Rahul ‘shedding crocodile tears on caste census’: Lalan reveals details of INDIA meet
Singh was the JD(U) president when the party was part of the INDIA bloc and used to accompany Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to the coalition’s meetings
Janata Dal (United) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan has claimed that Rahul Gandhi is “shedding crocodile tears over the caste census issue” now but had turned down the party’s demand for a resolution on the issue at INDIA bloc meetings under pressure from TMC chief Mamata Banerjee.
Singh, a Union minister, was JD(U) president when the party was part of the INDIA bloc and used to accompany Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to the coalition’s meetings. He made the claim on Sunday (August 25) in response to journalists’ questions on Rahul’s recent statement on the issue.
“Rahul Gandhi is simply shedding crocodile tears over the caste census issue... He is trying to confuse people. When the Bihar government conducted a caste-based survey in the state, we were part of the INDIA bloc, and we kept asking him to pass a resolution on this in the coalition’s meeting. Two meetings were held, but Rahul Gandhi turned down our request under pressure from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,” he claimed.
“When Nitish Kumar got the caste survey done in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi never praised him for it,” he added.
Addressing the Samvidhan Samman Sammelan in Prayagraj on Saturday, Rahul said, “90 per cent of people are sitting out of the system. They have skills and knowledge but no connection (with the system). That is why we have raised the demand for a caste census.”
(With agency inputs)